Last week the media was awash by the state government’s recovery of the Imo Broadcasting Corporation (IBC) staff quarters Orji, in Owerri North Local Government Area, one of the public properties spreading on an area of more than 40 hectares of land lawfully acquired in the early 70s by the state government and willfully donated by the citizens of the area for public use but forcefully and illegally acquired by the former governor of Imo State and his cronies for their private selfish use.
It was relocated to his Rochas Foundation College previously sited along Onitsha road.Much noise has been made over the acquisition of this particular public property and adjoining other privately owned lands bought earlier by individuals who lost several plots in the area. This property like several others seized and coveted at a time when a man who had Jacob Zuma of South Africa bestride Imo State as a colossus as the only cock that crowed and proposed to establish a feudal hegemony in the beloved peaceful non violent Imo State.
The recovery of the IBC quarters where many serving staff and some retired workers of Imo Broadcasting Corporation resided and part of which are the ancestral homestead of people of Orji Community and non indigenous landlords who bought plots from the original landowners. Most of these landlords have been moaning and gnashing their teeth over the loss of this public/private property brazenly confiscated by such a man who has the penchant for assuming that he is the only knowledgeable business man and political leader who under the pretence of a self appointed Rescue Mission held the over 5 million inhabitants of this state under bondage for eight years of “mesmerism and iberiberism”.
This recovery calls for kudos to the administration of Senator Hope Uzodinma, coming after the recovery of the state owned former Eastern Palm University now K.O. Mbadiwe University, especially with the magnanimous act of temporarily closing the Foundation College allowing the pupils of the institution who are mainly indigent students to complete their academic work to terminate with the end of the school year before their final vacation.
We hope that the recovered property will not be re-distributed to members of the camp Hope organization. But returned wholly to the public institution and original land owners of the area. It is our strong belief and anticipated Hope that the present Chief Executive of the state will not be coerced to relax from his dogged, silent but popular action and avowed determination to recover large portions of public lands, properties, institutions and even markets taken over by the demagogue while he bestrode the state with his deceitful chanting of his notorious mantra “my people my people” sapped the peoples economy and milked the treasury while turning all state lands to the Okorocha family heritage.
We also hope this administration will not relent in its effort to recover the valuable eighteen properties included in the report of the panel on lands which include the plots of land mapped out for new Government House in New Owerri, the property housing the Royal Palm Estate and Hotels, the former Artisans villages in Orji and Nekede and others.
It would be recalled that when this holocaust of land grabbing,Treasury looting was ravaging, this medium raised alarm and drew the peoples’ attention for which its publisher was dragged to court and the lives of workers sought after.
We salute and give kudos to Governor Hope Uzodinma for this singular act of actualizing the collective wishes of the Imo electorate by recovering the peoples property and perhaps money in the near future. After all the role model of our former governor whom he used the peoples money to cast his statue is now in jail for his atrocities and has, today put South Africa in a cauldron and turmoil. But justice must prevail in the land no matter whose ox is gored.
